January 6, 2016

Lyle here – yes... For those who have not heard from us, we are still alive. Wishing everyone a VERY belated Christmas and praying your New Year is beginning well!

Baby Cora Grace

It has been many months, a little over three to be a little more exact, since we have written. So much has happened since that time! As most of you know we went back to the U.S. because Moe, one of our four daughters, was very close to giving birth to the newest addition to their family, Cora Grace. They now have two daughters and two sons! Before we went to Montana to spend time with Moe, Jens, and family, we began our trip on the east coast visiting Amy, Pat, and family. As you may recall, the reason we were able to return to the U.S. last time was for the birth of their second child, Joshua. As it would be phrased here in Uganda: “As long as our girls keep “producing” we are able to travel back to the U.S. to be part of it.” I’m guessing this is a trend that is not going to continue at the same pace. Oh well. After a wonderful time with Pat & Amy we traveled to Seattle for a short time. We were able to greet a few friends and spend a little time with Nicole, as well as Brit, Shane, and family. We were also able to go and visit our church family in Redmond, Redmond Assembly of God. It was so wonderful seeing everyone and having a wonderful time of fellowship afterward. Then it was off to Montana for the purpose of the trip – to welcome baby Cora into the world. She was born on November 13, 2015. She weighed out at a healthy 8 pounds 8 ounces. The delivery was again a rough one for Moe, loosing a lot of blood, having an emergency medical procedure, and the need for two transfusions. But in the end all was well, for which we are all grateful and so appreciative of all those who prayed. Alakara jik nooi (thank you so very very much)!

While helping with Cora and the boys, we were able to get away and spend a night in Frenchtown and then Sunday morning with our other church family at Frenchtown Community Church. It also was such a blessed time and the fellowship afterward was such a joy. We were also able to re-connect with those we had met at Jens’ church, Little Brown Church in Bigfork. When we first met them, they were so open and lovingly accepted us. After about a month in Montana we said our goodbyes and returned to the Seattle area where we were able to spend more time with Nicole, as well as Brit, Shane, and family and a few other friends. After our whirlwind seven weeks in the U.S. we headed back to Uganda. It is amazing how seven weeks can be such a long time, but at the same time go by so quickly, not allowing enough time really spend time with people.

The next time we will be in the U.S. will be sometime in July of 2016. This will be our home assignment and will last about six months. It is during this time we really hope to be able to spend some quality time with those we were unable to connect with or only connected with briefly. It is also when we will have the time to share what is happening here in this little piece of Karamoja that our Lord has placed us in. While the workers here are few and the needs are great, we are continuing to see God’s hand in the spiritual affairs of Moroto District. We are trusting the Lord will bring others to join us beginning February of 2017. This will mark the official beginning of the Moroto Focus Team. Not only are we trusting He will bring others through AIM, but also through other mission organizations as well. Next week we are hosting a couple and their adopted Ugandan daughter. He is from the U.S. and she is Dutch.  They feel the Lord is leading them to leave where they are now in the Central part of Uganda and that they are to come to Karamoja. We are excited that God is laying Karamoja on others’ hearts. Also, if you or your church would like us to share with you when we are on furlough next year, please contact us.

So what has been going on since our return to Moroto? It’s not a bad question, so I thought I would ask it J.

Ready for Christmas

Since our return, we have hit the ground running. Immediately upon our arrival in Uganda, we spent a few days stocking up on some supplies in Kampala and then headed north to Karamoja. We choose to make it a two-day trip (its rare we don’t) since the one-day version is, well, torture is the word that comes to mind. It can be done, but with the condition of the roads having a full day for the last part of the drive is a good thing. We checked on the roads before leaving Kampala and learned (learnt for our British and Australian friends) that the road we normally take was completely blocked by large trucks stuck in the mud caused by the heavy rains that had just ended. Usually what happens is that when a truck gets stuck the next one that comes along figures that the mud must only be impassable where the stuck truck is. So they try to pass and then they get stuck. You get the picture. Pretty soon they are lined up like a blockade determined to not let anyone pass. This situation took us to our alternate route, which even when dry, has a section that would put most roll-a-coasters to shame. So we took it and enjoyed the ride, arriving home safe and sound. The first order of business was to replace the rear shocks, which had us looking like a dolphin or a whale breaching the water as we traversed the roll-a-coaster road. This necessitated us contacting a mechanic in Kampala and having him send up a pair of shocks, accompanied by another mechanic to replace them. I had planned on doing it myself, but if the shocks came up alone they may have made a detour somewhere along the way, never reaching Moroto. Since they came with a mechanic he might as well change them!

Our Christmas Tree

Next was Christmas, which was a wonderful time! We had another missionary couple (German) stay with us a few days. They live in a remote location in the north of Uganda, just on the edge of the Uganda Kenya border. In addition to them we had eleven other Ugandan friends join us. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Having said that, this was no typical Christmas day. We began the day with a Christmas morning service at 7:00 am. Then we came home and I slaughtered the Christmas turkey that took two days to find. This might not be a big deal to those of you who grew up on farms and hunting, but I WAS a city boy. No longer. I am learning. Ingrid was already not feeling well. In fact, she had been sick since before our return to Uganda. She is now somehow feeling better, but fatigues easily. After I finished dressing the bird. Why do you dress when in reality you strip the poor thing of everything? I digress. Ingrid then stuffed the turkey with the pork sausage we had ground and spiced the day before. After everything

 Women prisoners and their children

was well on its way, she left. This is where it really gets exciting. Ingrid is involved with a ministry to the prisoners once a week. She joined a team from our church who was already there twice a week. So, she along with Rev. Raymond led Christmas services for the prisoners. At the end of the services five women and about 30 men gave their lives to the Lord. What is important about these numbers is two things. First of all this number represents about 15% of the prison population. Secondly, all these people had never raised their hands before to choose to follow Christ. Like I said earlier, we are continuing to see God’s hand in the spiritual affairs of Moroto District. Ingrid will now begin the task of meeting with these five new sisters in Christ once a week to disciple them and share God’s word. So while Ingrid’s time at the prison was spiritually exciting, she returned home exhausted, after diner had ended, but not regretting having missed a thing.

Youth Camp

Immediately following Christmas was the annual youth camp. While Church of Uganda planned the camp, youth from all denominations were invited, along with their respective leaders. The camp encompassed youth from throughout Karamoja and totaled around 300 campers. Reverend Raymond did a wonderful job of planning and bringing in speakers from outside of Karamoja as well as a couple of other speakers from Karamoja who sincerely love the Lord. The theme of the camp was “His Agenda, my purpose,” taken from Genesis 1:26-27. Each day there was a discussion group as well as a workshop. Both were broken down by different ages; I worked with those who were 21 and over. Ingrid came for two of the discussion groups, when the men and the women were separated, to lead the discussion on such topics as sexual purity, biblical womanhood versus what Karimojong culture says a woman should look like, and what it means to influence others for Christ or not. Mind you, Ingrid was still not feeling well at this time. In fact, she had just begun some antibiotics to help rid her of what was going on, but even so, she still came a couple more times, joined the leadership in praying individually for people for about one hour and stuck around a little after, just to be part of the group.

Praying for others

During the camp I led the discussion groups for the men as well as the running the workshops for the combined groups of 21 and over. For the discussion groups our topics were the same as the group that Ingrid was part of, but oriented towards men. For the workshops there were are variety of topics. All had to do with who we are in Christ and what that means as we live out our lives. In other words, my purpose in life should be God’s agenda for me. We worked our way through our identity in Christ, my culture versus Biblical culture, and managing our sexuality. We moved to what it would then look like to take Christ to the Karimojong people – how we can fulfill the Great Commission in this context – a generation that is struggling physically, economically, and spiritually. We worked on identifying what God has given us, instead of focusing on what we feel we don’t have. Finally everything was brought together to understand that all of this begins with personal holiness born out of a genuine relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As the workshop attendees were given the task of outlining what mission would look like, from both a personal level and then a corporate level, that is the churches role, the responses of the workgroup were amazing. They looked at themselves and what responsibilities they had. They understood the difference between genuine relationship and religion. They discussed spiritual disciplines. They understood the need to suffer for Christ. Finally, they worked out potential ways to engage unbelievers. The last night was on suffering and God’s will. Really this is an inadequate summary.

Please be praying for this group of young people. Just like so many camps in the U.S. they will leave all pumped up, but then they will be faced with the reality of going back to a church that preaches religion or where some or many of the clergy may not even be saved. They will be facing discouragement and may end up with more questions about their faith as a result, with no one spiritually qualified to answer their questions.  But we know our Lord is everywhere and the Holy Spirit is our teacher, what a comfort.

It really strikes me how much the same the youth of Karamoja are to the youth in U.S. I think I got more out of working with them then they did out of the conference. People are people everywhere in the world. The common truth is, we all need Jesus.

Finally, we have a short-term missionary who will be joining us for the next 5½ months. He will be doing predominately youth work with the Church of Uganda.  This is part of an internship for his Bible College. Please be praying that we will support and lead him well so that he grows closer to the Lord and leaves with a clearer understanding of what cross-cultural mission looks like.

Thank you for enduring to the end of this post. Our last few months have been full of so many wonderful times and we are reminded that our hope is in Christ and our lives should be about Him. When we worship Him and live for Him, He chooses to use us for His purposes and in the process grows us more and more into mature sons and daughters. May all the glory go to our Father in Heaven.

Love you all and thank you so much for all the support you give us; spiritually, emotionally, in prayer, and in finances.

Lyle and Ingrid

September 13, 2015

Hello, Ingrid here, bringing greetings to all of you from Moroto, Uganda!! Wow where has the last two months gone?  As we asked for prayer in our last blog-that the Lord of the harvest would bring laborers, our Lord has been moving in Karamoja in ways beyond our dreams of how this could happen.  We were thinking of team members, but God has started to harvest in a different way.

"Karamoja Culture Day" prior to convocation

Prior to our vacation, our unit leaders ask us to pray about how and when our home assignment should happen, so as not to leave new team members up here alone for many months. So in discussion with them we have agreed with their wise council to not try to get team members here before we leave for our home assignment the last half of 2016. So this means on the third year anniversary of us arriving in Moroto, we hope to be welcoming team members to our Moroto Focus team, that is in mid-February, 2017!!!  While with our human eyes, that seems a long way off, our Father has been busy in our land.  We have gotten the privilege of witnessing a unity of those who identify with Christianity in Karamoja that I hadn’t ever expected.  The middle of August, the Catholic and Protestant churches united and came together to dedicate Karamoja to the one and only living God, Jehovah/Yahweh.  The Convocation, as it was called, was a 5-day event, topped off with the President of Uganda confirming and witnessing this dedication. 

Different Karimojong Clans gathering to repent
and then to forgive each other

While it was a serious miracle to have unity among all the different denominations representing Christ Jesus, it was also a huge miracle to have elders and youth from each clan of the Karimojong there willing to repent and ask for forgiveness on behalf of the clan for what had been done to the other clans. So the Karimojong tribe has 6 clans and up to about 3 years ago, these were violently slaughtering each other and stealing from each other, many times just for revenge of things that may have happened decades ago or months ago.  There were also neighboring tribes that were invited to the Convocation, as well as neighbors in the border countries of Kenya and South Sudan and all of these came and were well represented as the Karimojong had raided all these areas and left tragedy in their wake.  Forgiveness was asked for by all and was received by all.  One example of this reconciliation follows: A man from a tribe in Kenya, who hadn’t worn a shirt for 29 years, which was when the Karimojong stole his shirt and raped and killed his wife and his children, finally put on a shirt once again.  What happened here was, I believe, in the spiritual world a very powerful thing.  Nothing went completely smooth during the 5 days and I am sure that much grace had to be extended on all sides for each other, but the fact that it happened successfully, to me is very promising for this land to change who is the spiritual ruler over it.

View from our room while on vacation

The Convocation was sandwiched in between our vacation, which proved to be more of a glorified survivor camp for us; Lyle’s facilitation at the first Ugandan organized mission conference (which took place at the same time as the Convocation); and our immediate travel after the Convocation ended, to fly to Kigali, Rwanda for a conference.  So the month of August was mostly a blur with lots of prayer for each day.  We just returned to Moroto on Sept. 9^th and have been busy enrolling boys into school, which started this past Monday.  For the past 5 terms, as each term has started, we have felt led to help one or two more boys, and each time we look at each other and say this is all we can do, and so that was our mindset as we set out to pay school fees for our boys, all 13 of them, but in the process we deeply felt the Lord leading us to help another two.  Lyle and Simon (for discernment and interpretation purposes) went out to the village of the two new ones, to see if their stories were true.  (I was involved with a complicated situation at our neighbors.) One of the two boys is completing P7 this term, which would be like 8^th grade in the USA.  He had told Lyle and me that his grandmother had been gathering firewood and making charcoal to pay for his school fees, but has recently gone blind, and can no longer cater for him.  When Lyle got to this boy’s village, and met the grandmother, he said it looks like she has cataracts; he said there was a thick grey white over the colored part of her eyes.  And so he agreed to help this grandmother with the boy’s school fees, we will be investigating whether or not cataract surgery is available here, and hopefully we can at some point help this lady regain her eyesight.  The other boy, from the same area, walks with several other children, 45 minutes to an hour, each way every day, to go to school here in Moroto town.  He is in P5, like 7^th grade. The schools in the town have better educators than the ones out in the bush.  So Lyle agreed to pay his day fees as well, and made a plan with this boy, that if his grades improve this term, we will put him into boarding school next year, so he doesn’t have to walk every day.  It is so amazing to me that these children are so dedicated, I lived 3 miles from the town where my school was and would have gladly not gone, if I had to walk!!!  Oh how I ache for these precious people.  We are hoping to have a bit of a leveling off of the demands each day, but trust the Lord with each day.

On a personal level, while on our, not planned to be a challenge but was, vacation, we did come to the realization upon reflecting on our daily life here in Moroto, that just as all money is not ours but God’s, and we are to steward it well, all time is God’s as well.  So we were challenged to ask ourselves if we were being cheerful and good stewards of God’s time.  Of course, we had to answer, not so much! (esp. at times on the cheerful part).  So of course, on getting back to Moroto the first part of August, our recent convictions were greatly put to the test.  We had, it felt like, double the interruptions and requests as before; and yet the Lord gave us the grace and strength to joyfully respond to each one. Rejoice with us on the joyful part, cause that is truly Jesus and not us. We are continuing to consciously work at having this attitude become our own.  So prayers for us in this regard are greatly appreciated.  During that holiday trip, we also acquired a generator.  Some friends that the Lord has given us in Kampala, who are very familiar with Karamoja, bought a generator for us at a very good price, and when we got the funds to pay for it, we picked it up.  We are so grateful for this love and God’s provision for us, as we had to use it for the five days after arriving, because of the power being off so often.  As I write this, our trusty generator is keeping our battery charged as we have been without power now going on two days.  So again please, please rejoice with us as our Lord through His people more than provides for our needs.  We are very humbled by His love and grateful for it.

Helping thresh sorghum in manyatta

As we were sharing with people here in Moroto and in Kampala that we were going to Rwanda and the local people in Uganda would speak of the place, we realized that we have been saying the name of this country wrong.  We have added an o, so it sounds like we are saying Rowanda, but the correct way combines the Rw, which makes it sound very different and is a challenge for English speakers not used to combining two consonants like Rw.   I have been practicing this seriously, and am now a good African in how I pronounce it, even Lyle has applauded me for my pronunciation.   Our time in the capital of Rwanda, Kigali, was made delightful by the hospitality of several AIM missionaries who are serving there.  We were picked up from the airport by a precious friend from France, and we stayed with a delightful couple, who are Australian/Kenyan or vice versa, and their wonderful children.  We got to meet the whole team, as they had a unit get-together while we were there.  One of the wives even made Lyle a birthday cake and brought it to our conference, to celebrate his birth on Sept. 4^th.  We were warmly treated by everyone there, nationals as well as ex-pats, and I don’t think I would have understood the tension that is really underneath the surface of this beautiful country, if two Rwandese had not had the courage to individually share with me, about their past, and what happened to them and their families during the genocide about 20 years ago.  My heart just broke for their suffering that continues inside even today.  They both have forgiven and are allowing Jesus to heal, but the ache for what happened to their loved ones is still there.  It is soooooo tough to hear what humanity does to each other in the name of superiority.  This sickness is so much deeper than the color of the skin, as all these had the same color but different tribes.  Oh how we need the humility and love that only Jesus Christ, God Himself, can give us through the Holy Spirit.

One of many new friends we met in Kigali, Rwanda (no "o")

As I continue to ponder on all these things, and seek the Lord, He is so good to remind me of His promises to me. One of ones that continues to touch me as my body lets me know that I have been walking this earth for more than 6 decades is Isaiah 46:4 which says: I will be your God through out your lifetime—until your hair is white with age.  I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.  This brings such comfort to me especially on the days my legs are very weak or my back and neck rebels. 

I have downloaded an eBook on early missionary journeys and after reading of one person’s experience on the South Pacific islands in the 1800’s, with cannibals and the lives lost without having been able to share one word about their Creator God, I found myself questioning whether these people were really led by God to go there or if they just thought it was a good idea and that was why they lost their lives.  This morning in my quiet time, I was reading a devotional sent to me by a very precious friend, called Streams in the Desert, an apt description of Karamoja.  It was speaking of the wonder of suffering, and the divine mystery connected with suffering.  It stated: “No one has ever developed a deep level of spirituality or holiness without experiencing a great deal of suffering.”  It suddenly hit me regarding the men in the South Pacific; they were living out Romans 12:1 “And so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable.  This is truly the way to worship Him.”  Perhaps these men, were only after pleasing God, and not about productivity in ministry, they were simply giving their bodies to Him and desiring to please the One Who made them and gave them salvation.  Perhaps their choices were only about their relationship with God and not outcomes.

So much food for thought for me, I desire to completely give my body, soul and spirit to God as a holy and living sacrifice, the kind He will accept, and to have that be my only reason for anything I do.  I would ask for you to pray for me in this as well.  That here in Karamoja, I would allow my body, my time, my emotions, everything about me to come from a place of true love for and love received from my Creator, my Savior, my Lord. 

We have 5 weeks before we fly to the USA and make our way from Florida to Washington State, to Montana visiting each of our daughters and their families and welcoming into this world our eighth grandchild. I AM SOOOO excited.  We will be away from our place here in Moroto for 8 weeks, a long time.  We would ask you to keep Simon, Esther, and Losike Paul, who help us here, in prayer as they hold down the fort.  We are hoping to have someone staying here if they get approval from their organization, a young woman from Germany who was here, went back to Germany, and is coming back for 6 months more.  Prayer for our travel is always appreciated, on the roads here in Uganda as well as in the air.  We definitely feel like pilgrims that do not have “a” home.  Our hearts are with our families in the USA and with our people here in Karamoja, and so we feel a dual but conflicting tug of where we would desire to be.  Maybe one day we will get used to this, but for now leaving is hard, no matter which side of the Atlantic Ocean we are on.

Our chicken additions

On a lighter note, our Teso hen, featherless neck and all, laid 12 eggs, sat on them for weeks and hatched 9 chicks. Two of them were snatched by a bird of prey called a Kite, kind of looks like a chicken hawk, and for obvious reasons.  So with 7 chicks left, Namoni has taken it on herself to be the chick watchdog.  Between her announcing the alarm of Kites and the mother hen being very watchful, the chicks are doing well.  Three of them look just like mama, a black cap on top of the head with a featherless neck and a black-feathered body.  They are very cute!!

Lyle's gratuitous bird photo. Blue Turaco seen on vacation

We are grateful to have each of you here with us on this journey, thank you for serving in Karamoja with us!!!!  I hope you are rejoicing with me in the answered prayers I shared, amazing answers that I didn’t have the vision to even pray for.  Please pray that as the Karimojong have renounced shrines where demons are lord, that the churches would not make shrines out of sanctuaries or denominations, or teaching that is unbiblical and so create more spiritual havoc in the area.  We have seen hints of this and are trying to address them as led by the Holy Spirit.

As always, we treasure your communication with us, and we desire to pray for you as well; in fact We do pray for you and if you have specifics, please, please let us know.

We give thanks to God for each and everyone of you!!!

July 9, 2015

Matthew 9:36-38: ‘When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest, ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”’

Hello to you from Moroto in July!  Ingrid writing this time J.  As we deepen our roots here in Karamoja, the above scripture in Matthew takes on a more three dimensional perspective. I have always understood that too few who call themselves Christian are actually willing to serve others as Christ did by pointing to the living, holy God while dying to selfishness; but I now feel I have a more real comprehension of the description of the people being confused and helpless. I now wonder if the crowds had any idea that Jesus saw them as confused and helpless.  The amplified Bible describes the crowds as bewildered, harassed and distressed, dejected and helpless.

I watch the precious people here in Moroto district daily choose destruction as a way of life, and my heart breaks for them and yet I can only offer them living water.  There are so many and I am but one, and there are few that I get quality time with; I pray that the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest will send more workers here into His fields.  Please join me in this prayer, that the people here will see that Lyle and I are not just an odd couple (though we are), but that there are many others who beat with Christ’s love in their chests.

One of the few I get quality time with is a woman named Esther. Although her parents said they were Christian, they gave her to a Mu$lim man for a dowry.  As we have gotten to know each other better and talk deeper, she shared that she thought Christianity and I$lam were two parts of the same belief.  Her daughters go to an I$lamic school here in Moroto and she brought me the religious education notes her daughter took in this class.  The notes very accurately described the differences. I was able to show her how I$lam cannot accept Jesus as the Way, the Truth and Life as John 14:6 so clearly states.  As she has grappled with what I have said, we also discovered that her belief was in “God” but Jesus had no place there.  I tried to explain that Jesus is the reason we are able to have a complete relationship with God, but she seemed unable to grasp this.  In praying how I could present to her the truth without big English words she doesn’t understand and my baby K’jong not sufficient, I was reminded of the “Evangle Cube” I had felt led to buy and bring with me.  In pictures it explains the sin and fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden, our separation from God, and our absolute inability to restore that relationship on our own merits.  The cube folds into different forms with different photos, the best one being the cross as the bridge between God and mankind. She seemed to grasp this better, and again strongly stated that she wanted to follow God and know Jesus.  Please join me in praying that this becomes her reality.

We were able to hold another Protestant Pastor’s conference in our empty living room J. Esther was there as well, and the man teaching spoke of how many here in Uganda think that salvation is attained by their efforts, and how the Bible shows how incorrect this teaching is.  This conference was translated into Ngakarimojong and so Esther was hearing everything I had tried to explain, but now in her own language.  At one point when the speaker was driving home the need for Jesus to be the center of our life, she ran over to me and said, “This is what you were telling me.”  She got it!!!  Now the challenge of building on the foundation of truth, Jesus Christ, in a way she can understand.

We have had a whirlwind month, an AIM Central region conference that happens every 18 months, with AIM missionaries from 6 countries coming together to be fed God’s Word and to strengthen and be strengthened by each other.  It was a fabulous time.  We were very grateful for the 4 days together with many others serving in very difficult circumstances.  We picked up a woman from Chicago, who came for a vision trip, wanting to see if Moroto was too remote for her to be a missionary in.  Also a young woman from the UK came for three weeks to see what

Karamoja was like. This was really our first experience having believers here with us for more than a few days, and we have so enjoyed it. They have both left for their perspective homes and we will wait to see if the Lord will bring them back.

We have also made airline reservations to fly back to the USA to welcome another grandbaby in November.  Moe and Jens, who live in Big Fork, MT are having a baby girl, and AIM graciously allows for us to go out to help and meet our newest family member.  We are grateful for this unexpected trip, as we had thought it would be the middle of 2016 before we hit American soil again.

We also had the joy of fellowship in Kaabong, Karamoja where another American couple and their three children live.  There are several of us from the USA in Karamoja, which is interesting because we are the only Americans in Moroto district at present.  There were about 12 people who gathered at their house and we celebrated the US independence from Great Britain with wonderful food and sparklers bought in Kampala.  It was so good to be with others serving in different districts of Karamoja.  We are all experiencing the same challenges and struggles and being able to talk together is quite comforting.

Our garden has been a source of joy for us, as we have been able to produce a variety of vegetables and share with our guards and Esther a bit of our local vegies from the states.  They now know what radishes, sweet corn, green beans, basil, dill, cilantro, sage, parsley and such are.  Simon puts the dill in his beans and he said we have ruined him for any other way to cook beans. We are so grateful to our Lord for the people we are working with here at our home. 

Lyle and I were visiting a couple who have befriended us here in Moroto about a month ago, they are from a different tribe but teach here.  They had a K’jong girl, maybe 17 years old, helping with the laundry.  I greeted her and with the help of the lady, Betty, shared with her how much God loves the Karimojong. She looked me in the eye and said, “If He loves us so much, why is there no rain.” I prayed quietly and waited for the Lord to lead me.  I finally said, “When you get the rain and the crops, what do you do with them?” I asked, “Do you thank God and use them wisely or do you have big drunken feasts and waste them?”  She didn’t answer me, so I asked her, “Why should God give you rain, if you don’t appreciate Him for it by how you live?”  Betty pressed her for an answer, and she finally acknowledged that they waste the crops on these parties and take the grain to the shrines to celebrate instead of thanking God.  It was very insightful for me, as I wouldn’t have come up with that question on my own.

I shared this incident with Pastor Noah (he is Karimojong) about a month ago when he went with Lyle and me to one of the manyattas we have a relationship with (the lady I have befriended is a widow, her name is Nakut Rose). She was very worried because the rain had passed her area, even though many other areas had received great amounts of rain.  Pastor Noah shared with her and the others gathered around us in her house what God had me ask the young girl at Betty’s.  He explained to them about honoring God and storing their grain so that when dry season comes they still have food. How God provides enough if people use it properly. 

The whole group, men and women seemed to really get what he was saying.  I was overjoyed. Nakut Rose took us out back and her maize (corn) was about two feet high and browning as were her groundnuts.  We held hands together and prayed in a group and asked the Lord to bless this garden and the labor of her hands. Well when I went out last week to see her and bring her to the conference, her maize was over 7 feet tall, no brown and the ground nuts were doing well.  She had even planted sorghum within this last month due to the rains that fell there.  She shared that because of the rain, the weeds were growing so much that they were weary trying to take care of them.  She asked if we could help her with some cash to hire workers to weed the gardens.  Lye and I felt we were suppose to do so, so we gave her some cash to hire workers but also felt we should go out and help ourselves. And so we did. This past week, we took Esther with us to help interpret and weed the crops Nakut Rose had planted.  Esther had never been to this area, called Lotirir, and was overjoyed to go with us.  We got to the place about 8:30 a.m. before the sun is too hot and weeded for about two hours.  During that time, many K’jong came to watch in amazement because they didn’t think we knew how to garden or weed or wield a hoe. Esther was also amazed that we could work so hard.  It makes me sad to think that so many have a misconception of who Americans are.   

We recently had an eye-opening incident here at our house.  Lyle and our guard Simon went with our neighbor to take the puppies next-door out to a korral (where cows and goats are kept).  As they left before I was home, they saw a young girl outside our gate.  Simon asked her in Ngakarimojong what she needed, and she told him she was waiting for auntie (me), as she was sick.  I had walked home and hadn’t seen her, but was outside feeding the chickens, both the neighbors and ours, when I heard a tap on the gate.  I went up and this precious face said "I am sick please help me."  So I went outside the gate to check and sure enough this girl had a high fever. I could tell from just touching her forehead.  She said her aunt had beaten her and chased her away for burning the beans.  I brought her to the veranda, and sat her down.  One of our guests and a local pastor were in the house talking, so I asked our guest to take a look, as she is a doctor.  Well the girl had over a 102 temp and was shaking.  With the pastor’s help, we were able to get from the girl that she thought it was malaria.  I gave her Tylenol and started the treatment for malaria; I have children’s doses on hand.  I got a mat and let her lay down.  We discussed what to do, as taking her to the hospital wasn’t an option, because they would not accept her without a relative accompanying her.  She was very sick and we didn’t know what to do because she wouldn’t share with us where her auntie was. When Lyle got home, 2 hours later, he went to the police station to find out what to do.  He came back with a policewoman who took the girl with her.  But the shocking thing for me was, that the police thought she had been planted to scout out our place to see what was here to steal.  That thought had never crossed my mind.  As I have had a few days to process this possibility, what the Lord continues to impress upon me is this, be like Jesus on this planet, who does only what the Father tells Him to do, no matter what.  I think of Jesus at the pools of Bethsaida, where He only healed one man, and not everyone.  That has always stirred me. It must have been difficult for Jesus to leave the others still in their infirmity, but He trusted His Father and obeyed Him.  Please pray for me that I will do the same, obey and not go off on my own, no matter how much it pains me.  Also please pray for me that I will not let suspicion keep me from showing Christ’s love to those at the gate, no matter their intent.

Our newest additions! A rooster (gift from our neighbors)

and a hen. The hen is not sick. The stylish shaved neck look 

is actually the type of breed it is.

I want to end this with a huge Praise to our Lord that Lyle and I are going to be able to take a real vacation the end of July.  It will be our first since 2012 where we had an extended time to just sit and be. We are combining my birthday and our 18^th year anniversary and going to the SW of Uganda for 5 days.  We are excited for this.

We continue to find the words hard to express how grateful to our Lord we are for all of you who love us, pray for us and care about our lives and the Karimojong people.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Please join us in praying for laborers for the harvest here in Karamoja, which according to our visitors is “ripe!!”